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Profiles

Profiles extend the core ADL specification with domain-specific requirements, members, and validation rules. They enable regulated industries and specialized use cases to build on ADL without modifying the core spec.

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When to use profiles — use profiles when your agents need to comply with industry regulations (HIPAA, SOC2, PCI-DSS) or organizational governance requirements. Profiles add structured compliance tracking without changing core ADL semantics.

Overview​

A profile is a set of additional requirements and members that extend ADL for a specific domain. When an ADL document declares a profile in its profiles array, it:

  • MUST satisfy all requirements of that profile
  • MAY use members defined by the profile
  • SHOULD be validated against profile-specific rules

Profiles are identified by URIs (e.g., urn:adl:profile:governance:1.0).

Available Profiles​

ProfileIdentifierStatusDescription
Governanceurn:adl:profile:governance:1.0DraftCompliance frameworks, audit trails, enterprise governance
Portfoliourn:adl:profile:portfolio:1.0DraftAgent relationships and domain membership
Registryurn:adl:profile:registry:1.0DraftAgent catalog identity, classification, and federation
Financialurn:adl:profile:financial:1.0DraftPCI-DSS, SOX, GLBA, MiFID II, AML/KYC compliance
Healthcareurn:adl:profile:healthcare:1.0DraftHIPAA compliance, PHI handling, clinical safety, FHIR interoperability

Profile Versioning​

Profiles are versioned independently of the core ADL specification. Each profile declares which ADL versions it is compatible with in its COMPATIBILITY.md file.

  • Profile versions follow Semantic Versioning
  • A profile version remains compatible with ADL versions it declares
  • When ADL introduces breaking changes, profiles release new versions as needed

Proposing a New Profile​

  1. Open an issue using the profile proposal template
  2. Discuss scope, requirements, and target ADL compatibility
  3. Create a directory under profiles/ with:
    • README.md — Scope, status, maintainers
    • COMPATIBILITY.md — ADL version compatibility
    • 1.0/profile.md — Profile specification
    • 1.0/examples/ — Example ADL documents using the profile
  4. Submit a PR for review

Profile Requirements​

Profiles MUST NOT:

  • Redefine core ADL members
  • Conflict with other profiles

Profiles MAY:

  • Add new top-level members
  • Add members to existing objects
  • Define additional validation rules
  • Require specific values for optional members

See Also​